yajvan
07 December 2012, 09:48 PM
hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté
We hear this word mokṣa often on HDF. It is a core value of sanātana dharma. Perhaps if we took a few posts to look at it we may be able to appreciate the true essence of its offering.
mokṣa¹ - emancipation , liberation , release from ; setting free , deliverance (of a prisoner) - it is from the root verb mokṣ , to free one's self from ; to shake off.
mokṣitum is to free or deliver from.Some say it is attainable only via karma (actions), others say via jñāna, still others say it is only available via bhaktī (devotion); and still others say it only comes from the Supreme's grace (prasāda or anugraha).
This post is not so much about the vehicle(s) that may reveal this state of Being, but more about the various words associated with it (mokṣa) and their associated meanings.
For me I have been fortunate enough to comprehend this notion is not so much the idea of being liberated from (mukti - deliverance from) ignornace, but more of the notion of being identified with the Supreme, with one's essential nature. One can then see the difference.
Yet over time we have come to use the term mokṣa as liberation from ignornace; yet in its essence it is the liberation from smallness (āṇava mala). When this smallness is no more, what is left is vastness (viśva¹), one's real home. Let's look at some of the terms and ideas that may capture this idea and notion.
One idea that is used often ( in yoga schools and found in saṁkhya philosophy or darśana¹) is kaivalya. It is defined as perfect isolation , abstraction , detachment from all other connections , detachment of ātman from matter or further transmigrations. This kaivalya comes from the term kévala defined as 'isolation'. Yet too it also means simple , pure , uncompounded , unmingled. We can see the beauty in this term as how it can apply to the conversation of mokṣa. One in this condition is simple, pure, uncompounded.
What is this simple, pure and uncompoounded state of being ? Some like to call it sattva. It means purity, stainless. Why so ? Because when one is possessed, in full, of the Self, there is not even one iota of impurity found in this Self. That is, even if one is 99.9999% pure and this 0.0001% of undifferentiated awareness remains , it is considered a contrary state of being nestled (samatā¹) in the Supreme.
There is another notion called īśitṛtva. Let's address this in the next post.
iti śivaṁ
words
mokṣa - in jyotish, is known as the liberation of an eclipsed or occulted planet , the last contact or separation of the eclipsed and eclipsing bodies , end of an eclipse
mokṣadā - is the name of a female ascetic
viśva - to pervade; all-pervading or all-containing , omnipresent
darśana - is to see; inspection , examination . There are 'classically' 6 schools(saḍ darśana) that in general can be grouped into 3 pairs :
yoga & sāṁkhya
mimāṁsā & vedānta as vedānta is also known as uttara mimāṁsā a.k.a. the brahma-sūtra-s. Some distingush mimāṁsā as pūrva ( former , prior ) to that of uttara ( later , following , subsequent ) mimāṁsā
nyāya & vaiśeṣika - logic and cosmology - Here we find the 'atom eater' or kaṇāda-muni the author of the vaiśeṣika branch. And we have akṣapāda-muni (akṣapāda = having his eyes fixed on his feet ) of the nyāya philosophy.
These 6 fall into many of one's studies. Yet one that is not called out that I have spent much more time with has been the trika-darśana.
samatā - sameness of level ; identity with
~~~~~~
namasté
We hear this word mokṣa often on HDF. It is a core value of sanātana dharma. Perhaps if we took a few posts to look at it we may be able to appreciate the true essence of its offering.
mokṣa¹ - emancipation , liberation , release from ; setting free , deliverance (of a prisoner) - it is from the root verb mokṣ , to free one's self from ; to shake off.
mokṣitum is to free or deliver from.Some say it is attainable only via karma (actions), others say via jñāna, still others say it is only available via bhaktī (devotion); and still others say it only comes from the Supreme's grace (prasāda or anugraha).
This post is not so much about the vehicle(s) that may reveal this state of Being, but more about the various words associated with it (mokṣa) and their associated meanings.
For me I have been fortunate enough to comprehend this notion is not so much the idea of being liberated from (mukti - deliverance from) ignornace, but more of the notion of being identified with the Supreme, with one's essential nature. One can then see the difference.
Yet over time we have come to use the term mokṣa as liberation from ignornace; yet in its essence it is the liberation from smallness (āṇava mala). When this smallness is no more, what is left is vastness (viśva¹), one's real home. Let's look at some of the terms and ideas that may capture this idea and notion.
One idea that is used often ( in yoga schools and found in saṁkhya philosophy or darśana¹) is kaivalya. It is defined as perfect isolation , abstraction , detachment from all other connections , detachment of ātman from matter or further transmigrations. This kaivalya comes from the term kévala defined as 'isolation'. Yet too it also means simple , pure , uncompounded , unmingled. We can see the beauty in this term as how it can apply to the conversation of mokṣa. One in this condition is simple, pure, uncompounded.
What is this simple, pure and uncompoounded state of being ? Some like to call it sattva. It means purity, stainless. Why so ? Because when one is possessed, in full, of the Self, there is not even one iota of impurity found in this Self. That is, even if one is 99.9999% pure and this 0.0001% of undifferentiated awareness remains , it is considered a contrary state of being nestled (samatā¹) in the Supreme.
There is another notion called īśitṛtva. Let's address this in the next post.
iti śivaṁ
words
mokṣa - in jyotish, is known as the liberation of an eclipsed or occulted planet , the last contact or separation of the eclipsed and eclipsing bodies , end of an eclipse
mokṣadā - is the name of a female ascetic
viśva - to pervade; all-pervading or all-containing , omnipresent
darśana - is to see; inspection , examination . There are 'classically' 6 schools(saḍ darśana) that in general can be grouped into 3 pairs :
yoga & sāṁkhya
mimāṁsā & vedānta as vedānta is also known as uttara mimāṁsā a.k.a. the brahma-sūtra-s. Some distingush mimāṁsā as pūrva ( former , prior ) to that of uttara ( later , following , subsequent ) mimāṁsā
nyāya & vaiśeṣika - logic and cosmology - Here we find the 'atom eater' or kaṇāda-muni the author of the vaiśeṣika branch. And we have akṣapāda-muni (akṣapāda = having his eyes fixed on his feet ) of the nyāya philosophy.
These 6 fall into many of one's studies. Yet one that is not called out that I have spent much more time with has been the trika-darśana.
samatā - sameness of level ; identity with